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Monday, February 24, 2014

Nature's Studio - Celebrating the Shade AROUSE / EVOKE/ CREATE/GROW/CHILL
was one of my favorite display gardens at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show - 2014.

It appeals to me as a person who likes outdoors, woods, native plants and yes, shade.
There was nothing here that I didn't like: shrubs with colorful stems, big stumps as giant planters
exactly as in the northwest forests, a stream, rough stepping stones, boulders, interesting plants,
leafy vegetables...

I think this giant mushroom 'sculpture' is cool! Piece of organic art!

Excellent selection with brilliantly colored, twisted leaves that emerge orange-red, mature to dark green and change to intense shades of scarlet, then purple-red in fall and winter. Thick, leathery leaves keep their color during the winter, showing off small red berries. With its compact, slow growing habit, this superb shrub is great for mixed containers, foundation and mass plantings.

Knotweed reminded me of its wild relative from my childhood in Russia.
It grew everywhere in the countryside where my grandma lived.
Sometimes we touched its leaves and then accidentally rubbed our eyes. It burned!

In its native Yunnan, Tibet and upper Burmese forests, it can be found reaching a height of 50 feet!

This plants wins every prize for sheer grandeur of leaves, which range from eight to thirty-six inches in length.

Flowers are in big trusses of creamy-white or pale yellow flowers with a large red spot.

Our sinogrande trees have enjoyed living in the garden under stately tall firs, hemlocks and cedars on the Olympic Peninsula since 1999 and have grown to fifteen feet in fifteen years. Sinogrande also makes a spectacular container plant.

We estimate it to be hardy to about 10 degrees.

This rhododendron will like: A woodland setting with high shade

- Small amounts of fertilizer on Valentine's day and Mother's day

- Protection from high winds

- gentle watering

- well aerated soil with good drainage

- protection from bitter cold under 10 degrees.

The vegetable part of the garden included the following:

Blauschokker Peas, Bordeaux F1 Hybrid Spinach,

Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Delicacy Purple Kohlrabi,

Flashy Trout's Back Lettuce, Green Ice Lettuce,

January King Cabbage, Lollo Rosso Lettuce,

Panther Cauliflower, Purple of Sicily Cauliflower,

Red Chidori Kale, Rubine Brussel Sprouts,

Ruby Ball Cabbage, Rudolph Broccoli,

Shiitake Mushrooms, Tuscan Kale

As a person who used to spend hours sealing jars with homegrown veggies and berry jams,

Great pics. Great looking garden displays. I love a garden that you could sit down and see something new practically all the time. So many nice details.Our garden experience is going to change in a few years, we'll be moving, and I'm trying to adjust to a whole new way of gardening. Because it will, by necessity, be very different. But change is good, right? :-)

The huge, circular sculpture was the attention grabber in most posts about the show. Thanks for going into such detail and showing us what this display was made of, plant lists and all. It really was worth the extra attention.

I got lost on the internet after looking at the red twig dogwood surrounded by the calluna vulgaris and wound up on a page that had dactylorhiza in a photo and saw a post you had made on that blog back in 2012. Looks like we both like that flower. Did you ever find it? Now I have a mission...I need to find a dactylorhiza elata for my bog garden. Thanks for sharing this beautiful display. Karen Mashburn

Breathtaking photos, Tatyana. They really get me in the gardening mood. Thank you for sharing. On another note, on the news I'm hearing that Russia is making threats against The Ukraine. I don't know any details but I know this is your homeland so I'm thinking of you and praying it doesn't escalate into a dangerous a situation. Hugs!